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Thursday, February 04, 2010

What I am happy and honored to announce below is closely related to the Chocolate Caramel Banana Tart above. But I need your attention for 2 paragraphs before I tell you more about the tart. It's important. [Update: the BlogAid Cookbook is not available for sale anymore. For more info read this.]

A few days after the horrible tragedy of the earthquake in Haiti, I received an email from Julie from Dinner With Julie that made me jump in my seat and say "Heck yes I'm with you!". She had been watching the news and with every passing hour, she was as feeling as upset and hopeless as a lot of us did. She had a plan to help raise money for Haiti and she emailed for help. Julie set out to create the BlogAid Cookbook. Twenty seven of us came together and provided her with some of our favorite recipes and pictures.

Julie and her friend Cathryn worked almost around the clock to pull it all together. and I am honored and thrilled to announce that the BlogAid Cookbook is up for order!

The proceeds from the book sales will go straight to Haitian relief via the Red Cross and Doctors without Borders. It's not all though! Both West Canadian AND Blurb are matching the dollar amount of the proceeds raised, to TRIPLE those dollars going to Haiti. And until February 12th, the Canadian government will match that.

It's a POD (print-on-demand) system, meaning the books are printed and shipped as they're ordered and arrive at your doorstep in about 8 days. You can purchase yours for a good cause here.

While Julie was working on this project I was having interesting discussions with a good friend about buying too much, accumulating without purpose, wanting versus needing. I am the child of a homemaker and an army guy who lived on a small pension. I worked in a restaurant where every purchase-usage-spoilage was scrutinized, discussed and fixed. And it's in everything I do now as an adult. I am not talking about being cheap but about using things to the last drop. Or the last crumb...

My friend has a small farm. She raises a few chickens. This year she got a couple of goats. She is slowly transitioning into a path that suits her to a T and she is making enormous sacrifices along the way. Her positive energy and generosity are always invigorating. So are the eggs she gives me for baking. You can bet that none of them go to waste. As a thank you I made her this Chocolate Caramel Banana Tart.

I love the meals and snacks that take place when I clean up the pantry of fridge of all the bits and pieces before it's too late. A homemade vegetable soup with fried pieces of prosciutto, an omelette topped with the last bit of the aged gouda I like so much, a mixed up pasta dish full of different handful of herbs. I bet there's a bit of the same going on in your kitchen at times!

Desserts are always a different story at our house. Between us, the neighbors, the friends, the family, it's rare to have leftovers. Dough scraps seem to abound in the freezer though. Oh and little containers with only spoonfuls of ice cream. Too many. I lost track.

Bananas are always the ones that end up being frozen and forgotten or mashed and forgotten. Or simply forgotten. Except when I play my "make a dessert by association" in my head. Banana - peanut butter - chocolate - crust. I originally thought about doing just caramel and chocolate but this version ended up being much better than anticipated.

I finally nailed a gluten free chocolate shortcrust recipe that we both love and it makes perfect chocolate shortbread cookies too. The tart filling was soft and gooey without flowing all over your fork. Just don't be walking around the house with a slice of pie. Don't say I did not warn you...

Prepare the crust:In a mixer, whip together the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the egg yolks, one at a time and beating well after each addition. Mix until incorporated. Add the three different flours, the xantham gum and cocoa powder and mix briefly. Dump the whole mixture onto a lightly floured (use more rice flour) board and gather the dough into a smooth ball. Flatten the dough into a disk, wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour.Preheat oven to 350F and position a rack in the center.When the dough is nice and cold, roll it out on a lightly floured board or in between two sheets of plastic to fit your prefered pie pan. (I went with rectangular this time) If the dough tears while you roll or/and transfer into the pan, just patch it with your fingertips. Line the dough with a piece of parchment paper, fill with pie weights or dy beans and par bake for 15-20 minutes until completely done. Remove the weights and parchment paper.

Prepare the filling:In a heavy bottom saucepan, bring the sugar and water to a boil over meadium high heat and cook until you get a dark caramel. (do not walk away - it only takes minutes). Remove the pan from the heat and add the cream and butter. The mixture will bubble so be careful. Place the pot back on the stove and cook on low until the mixture is smooth. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature.Once cooled, add the peanut butter and banana and whisk until completely smooth. Pour over the crust. Refrigerate for 2 hours before topping with the ganache.

Prepare the ganache:Place the chocolate in a medium size bowl. In a small saucepan set over medium high heat, bring the cream to a strong simmer. Remove from the heat and pour over the chocolate. Let stand for a couple of minutes and slowly stir in with a whisk or spoon until smooth. Let cool for 5 minutes and spread all over the banana filling. Refrigerate until firm.

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comments:

That's so great, well done! Can't wait to see the book. The chocolate tart looks amazing. There's nothing like 'homemade eggs'! Our ducks have just started laying and I'm baking lots with the gorgeous eggs. x

Very nice Helen. The combination of peanut butter, chocolate and banana is perfect! Caramel adds a sticky touch and completes it all. Just wondering if there is a substitute for amaranth flour and can I omit xantham gum. Thanks!

What a marvellous idea the BlogAid Cookbook is! It's heartwarming to see talent put to such good use. And that tart!!! Oh my, I feel faint, just looking at it. As usual, the photography is breathtaking.

what a wonderful thing to be a part of, congratulations! i just bought a copy (although i won't be able to see it until may since i'm traveling...) but i'm happy to be able to support both haiti and the blogging community :)

dear helen,the chefs that contributed to the foodaid cookbook for haiti have enormous generosity of spirit & heart. i am sure that positive energy will translate into many purchases for this cause (mine among them).

i so enjoy your blog, your insight on "life," your visits to & with fellow bloggers & your most incredible photography. i have re-created many of your recipes & i am going to try my hand @ this lovely tart.

Quinn: you can use any other gf flour like brown rice, millet, quinoa, sorghum, even nut flours, etc.. The xantham gum is not mandatory but is is without taste and really helps rolling the dough without too much tear. Since I have seen its powers in bread - I am hooked.

I really wish I could be frugal. I waste way too much food. Although I do make a LOT of banana bread with all my 'forgotten' bananas! Could you please do a post on how to use up the odds and ends left over in the refrigerator?

I have a question regarding using gluten free flours. I was at Whole Foods and saw an All Purpose Gluten Free Flour from Bob’s Red Mill, have you ever used it? If so what was you’re your opinion on it? Would it give me the same results that you get from all the different flours you use together for your recipes? I’ve never made any pastry/desserts gluten free.

What a wonderful project. Certainly any dessert recipe you contribute would be well worth the cost. I'm salivating at one of my most favorite flavor combinations -bananas, chocolate, and peanut butter.

You have such a wonderful site! Your photos are so inspiring. I recently created my own blog and hope you can look at it and let me know what you think! I have tried to follow your macaroon recipe but I have failed everytime!! I need to give it a few more tries.

I trully love your blog and the great pictures. I live in Venezuela and was inspired by you to take photography lessons. I am doing some research about cameras for beginners, can you help me out and recommend a good one?Your follower MAML

thanks for the beautiful entry... and for the blogaid... I posted it on my blog too. I have 3 Haitian siblings - and had the opportunity to spend time in Port-au-Prince two summers ago... any little bit helps - and I hope that we are able to encourage as many people to offer their aid as possible.

I made this tonight and it was divine - thank you so much for the recipe! I used some tart dough from the freezer and the only other change I made was to add some fleur de sel to the caramel. I also found my caramel hardened up too much at room temperature to at that time whisk in the banana/peanut butter mixture, so I placed it over medium low heat to combine.

I made this for my brother and sister in law who came in town to visit. It was wonderful, every one loved it!I used regular flour because I can't find all those types of flour where I live and I had to bake the crust about 40 min. because it kept feeling very soft on the bottom and I was worried it would not be done. I took it out until it was closer to a cookie and it turned out good but I was wondering if I baked it too long? Is it supposed to be very soft?